Ok, so my two-week grocery shopping plan needs a lot of work. Apparently, I don’t have a really good concept of just how much food my family consumes. I bought 20 pounds of apples less than two weeks ago, and we seriously have three left. Thirteen pounds of potatoes, and again, three left. Better planning is in order.
The other thing I am learning, is that I spend more time cooking than I would like. Duh, right? I guess we probably all feel this way. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy cooking. It is just that with all the other responsibilities I have, cooking and baking can’t be a huge time taker for me.
I am reading Large Family Logistics by Kim Brenneman right now – even though our family may not qualify as large (seven people) compared to hers (eleven people) – and I am really gleaning some fantastic tips for organizing our household.
I am going to put two ideas into practice when it comes to my meal planning this week:
1. Leftovers
I need to cook larger quantities of dishes like soups, stews and beans so that I have enough for two or even three meals. Years ago, I would make one batch of something and my husband would have leftovers for work the next day. As our family grew, I had to make a double batch of things to have leftovers. Now, we are at the point where I make a double batch of things and have no leftovers. Leftovers save time!!!! I now see that I need to start making triple or quadruple batches when I cook so that I can serve leftovers throughout the week.
2. Dinner
Dinner in the noon time, Little House on the Prairie sense. My husband works from home during the day, and often times he works out of the house at night. On those days, I typically serve a larger meal at lunch time – or dinner as it was called way back when. Where my plan falls apart, is the fact that I also then feel the need to plan a larger meal for the kids and me later in the day. So not necessary. And, to be honest, my husband is really flexible. I think to save myself the planning headaches, I am just going to plan a very simple breakfast, a very simple supper, and larger midday meal. We’re bringing dinner back!
This week is also going to be an adventure for our family. In addition to having my own five children ages eight and under, we will be watching my two nephews. They are very energetic, very adorable little 21-month-olds. Yep, that’s right. Seven kids, eight and under. It is going to be loud and messy – even more so than usual. And we are all looking forward to it! This is the perfect opportunity for my older two to really step up and help even more as well. And, it will mean that I would like to spend even less time in the kitchen this coming week.
My plan = Big pots of stuff and lots of leftovers.
BREAKFAST:
Kids can choose from the following:
- Eggs
- Apples and Peanut Butter
- Smoothies
- Yogurt
- Oatmeal
- Granola
LUNCH (or DINNER):
- Creamy Vegetable and Rice Soup, Steamed Broccoli
- Beef Stew (yummy new recipe with potatoes and lots of dill)
- Sloppy Joes (I use Laura’s yummy recipe, but add a bunch of chopped peppers and grated carrots), Steamed Corn, Steamed Peas
- Cottage Mac and Cheese, fruit
- Calico Beans , fruit
- Leftovers x 2
SUPPER:
- Refried beans, avocados, cheese, veggies
- Baked potatoes, cheese, steamed broccoli, fruit
- Eggs, apples, veggies
- Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Muffins, fruit, veggies
- Grilled Cheese, veggies
- Leftovers x 2
That’s my plan. I know that the theme of my week is FLEXIBILITY, so we shall see how my plan plays out in reality :). I am still going both wheat and dairy free to see if my nursing baby’s skin improves. The experiment continues . . .
What do you have planned this week? Do any of you have your bigger meal of the day at noon?
Thanks for passing on the crock pot ideas!! I had just decided yesterday that I need to do more crock pot dinners to make things easier in the afternoon. Getting dinner on the table at 4 p.m. on those nights when we have people going in 5 different directions is quite a challenge and I need to utilize my 2 crock pots more.
I remember those days long ago when I could serve meatloaf in a bread pan and have plenty. Now we finish a 9×12 pan at one sitting, so we always make two 9×12 pans and freeze one. That is why I have five 9×12 pans! 🙂 We often multiply muffin recipes by 8. We mix them up either in my very large soup pot or have been known to pull out a rubber bin or cooler, clean it, and use that as a mixing ‘bowl’. “Necessity is the mother of invention” as they say! We love leftovers so much that we sometimes run out of room in our chest freezer. Anna often has 2 kinds of soup and 2 bags of muffins in the freezer at any given time in the winter. That also is helpful on days that the kids cook. Anna makes muffins one week and pulls a bag of soup out of the freezer and then switches it the next week often.
Good for you for planning ahead!! I feel like I am always one step behind when it comes to having leftovers. I hope to change that! Yes, crock pot meals are perfect when everyone is eating dinner at a different time.
My husband does shift work right now, so the timing of our “big” meal changes from day to day. I have never had any desire to dirty dishes or cook a whole new meal just for myself, so I ALWAYS have leftovers for the meal that takes place while he is at work. I am sure that will have to change as we add more kids to our family and they grow up and want more than just breast milk for lunch and dinner 🙂 But, for now, it works for us!
Yes, your planning will change as your family does. Sounds like you are well prepared for where you are heading :)!
Jenna, I will be praying for you this week and your full house! We do lots of leftovers. What I really like to do on Sundays is a crockpot chicken. We have it Sunday night and then leftovers on Monday and on Tuesday the left overs are for chicken salad or thrown in soup or thrown into chili. Also, if I make a big pan of pasta or something casserole-like I will freeze the second half for a meal at a later date. And yes, sometimes these left overs are done for lunch time and then we have a simple supper of smoothies and muffins or raw veggies. However, I need to get better at this!! I don’t have my two week meal plan done yet and it’s almost Monday! Yikes!
Thank you for your prayers!! I really am looking forward to it, and the kids are as well. I think that is why I am struggling – we have outgrown my current method, and I just haven’t adjusted yet. Where I used to be able to serve a chicken one night and then have leftovers for a soup or casserole – now I will cook a 5 pound chicken and they’ll pick it clean!!!! And I planned to use the leftovers for a soup, and there AREN’T ANY :)!!!! So, I just need to adjust my thinking, which will then adjust my planning. Just one of those things we all deal with as our family’s grow! And, I agree, nothing like a smoothie to redeem a quick meal :).
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